


Transformers: Energon Phantasm

by UrbanCritter



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 | JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken | JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Genre: Alternate Universe, Conflict, Gen, Jojo inspired, Robots In Disguise, Vampires, autobots wage their battle to destroy the evil forces of the decepticons, more than meets the eye, shonen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:02:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25572535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UrbanCritter/pseuds/UrbanCritter
Summary: After an archaeological dig discovers an ancient stone mask, Orion Pax, the aide of the respectable senator Megatronus, discovers there's more to his mentor's ambitions than meets the eye. What follows next is a struggle for the future of Cybertron itself.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	1. Senatorial ambitions

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is the first chapter of the first thing i've written I can admit to call "fanfiction". I hope someone out there likes this!

“Careful, Megatronus! These are ancient artifacts! Literally irreplaceable!”

Megatronus rolled his optics with theatrics fit for a politician. He shook his aide’s grip off and let go of the laser drill’s trigger with a laugh.   
“Would you like to do the digging for me, Librarian?”

Orion Pax grinned under his faceplate. He accepted the cumbersome machine, and turned his attention to the half-molten hole Megatronus left.   
“Gladly. I don’t blame you though, how long has it been since you even held one of these?”

Before Orion turned his back on the senator, he could see the change in Megatronus. Whatever hint of enjoyment the politician may have had gave way to a sigh, the tone of bitterness creeping into his voice. Megatronus’ usual scowl didn’t take long to follow.   
“...Not long enough, Pax. If I never see another energon mining operation again, it’ll be too soon.”  
“Good thing this is an archeological excavation then.” was all the response Orion offered, still grinning as he dug.

A snap of Slamdance’s fingers and a quick point towards the digging pair were all the instructions Flashbox needed. The white-and-blue minicon focused on the pair, recording them intently. The journalist and his assistant could both see the news feed headlines now. In part because Slamdance was writing them himself.

“TARN’S SENATOR PARTICIPATES IN KAON DIG SITE.”

Hmm… Too clean.

"SENATOR MEGATRONUS OF TARN VISITS KAON DIG SITE TO UNCOVER ANCIENT RELICS."

That's too long.

“SENATOR MEGATRONUS SHOWS RESPECT FOR ANCIENT CYBERTRONIAN HISTORY.”

Could work, if Megatronus paid him to publish this one.

“SENATOR AND PROTEGE UNCOVER ANCIENT CYBERTRONIAN RELICS!”

Good. Hits all the right spots. Gives him the tiniest little bit of opening for gossip. Now time to narrate for the adoring watchers.

A quick motion to the minicon and a big, fake smile, and Slamdance was on air.  
“This is Slamdance, reporting to you from juuuuust outside Kaon. We’re here to look at the recent archeological dig site! Recently set up by Professor Shockwave of Kaon, Many people of importance were seen today on the scene-”  
Slamdance moved closer to Senator Megatronus and Orion Pax. He still held his microphone all-too-professionally close to his mouth.  
“-but the real deal appears to be Senator Megatronus of Tarn, coming here to show interest in Cybertron’s ancient past!”

The senator was busy trying to show Orion how to hold the laser drill (“without blowing off your fingers, Pax.”). When he heard his name, he straightened up.

Slamdance always loved the moment Megatronus realized he was on air. His face contorted into this attempt at showing no emotion whatsoever, instead producing a sour, impatient scowl. He lived for these moments. The chance to make senator Megatronus look like an idiot on the global news feeds was always a wonderful reward.  
Megatronus despised very few things as much as journalists. Very few of them were as despicable as Slamdance. In his miner days, he’d have punched him in the face for even thinking about asking some of the questions he had to suffer the muckraker spit at him.

But he was a senator now, and the weight of his actions was too heavy for him to indulge in pleasures as simple as caving this idiot’s casing in. So now he had to stand there and listen to this joke of a newscaster try to deface him for a quick coin.

“Senator Megatronus! Taking a day off from your duties as Tarn’s representative in the senate?”

Like that. Cheerful and yet venomous. The newsbot would warp almost any answer he’d give him, unless he offered Slamdance a _token of his good will_ , so to speak.  
Unfortunately for him, Megatronus wasn’t an idiot.

“Good morning. Professor Shockwave asked for me in particular to oversee the excavation. The Senate saw fit to approve it.”

“I see, I see. I had no such idea you had an interest in our history!” He was already writing into the newsfeed, judging by how _uplifted_ the red-blue pest sounded.

And now he was going to portray him as some overly-intellectual bore, or worse, a _re-enactor._ Few things kill your reputation in society as much as playing pretend over ancient history.

“I believe there is a lot to gain from this digsite. Beyond the cultural impact, there may be technology of great importance hidden in the ground."

This seemed to upset Slamdance- which means Megatronus answered right.  
"And what gives you this impression?" Slamdance was almost begging for a scrap of dirt.

"My aide and professor Shockwave helped me put it in perspective. The ruins we found were energon-dated to the era most Cybertronians remember as the 'golden age', before the Prime Wars. There is a great number of discoveries we could use here today."

He must've said something wrong- Slamdance’s optics lit up in excitement.

"Ah yes. Your _aide_. Senator Megatronus, there's been rumors I was hoping you'd comment on-"

"I have no relations with the Senator besides aiding him in professional matters." Orion piped in, half-focusing on the metallic ground under the beam. Immediately, Slamdance directed a brand new stream of questions at Megatronus.

This was a lie, of course- but the truth was not the kind people dull enough to gossip about a politician were hoping for. Megatronus took the young records clerk under his wing in the beginning of the senator’s presence in Iacon. Megatronus was easily the youngest of the senators and rather new to his role. He had been appointed by the previous representative of Tarn, Decimus, when the respectable bot had fallen ill. As the former head of the Tarnian Miner’s Guild left for his new life, Decimus finally succumbed to his illness. New to the weight of representing an entire city-state, Megatronus required an aide. Pax seemed to fill the harsh criteria that the newfound leader often demanded from his staff.  
Pax noticed the change in color. The metal melted away from the laser, and another ancient artifact returned to the Cybertronian surface after eons.

“Look, Senator!” he exclaimed loudly, dropping the drill to dig the artifact out with both of his hands. Megatronus, who seemed to want any excuse to stop talking to Slamdance, retreated from the conversation, muttering an “Excuse me” that didn’t feel at all polite before walking back over to Orion and giving what he held a look.

\---

“Your protege made an excellent discovery.” The cold and calculated voice of Shockwave echoed through his office. The cyclopean scientist swirled the distilled energon in his glass gently, and peered at the mask, so carefully placed in a box on his desk. “A very significant find, in excellent shape. You are quite fortunate to have him in your employ.”

Megatronus, on the other hand, had his glass finished and placed on the desk long ago. He examined the smooth, gray object in the box intently, finger sliding over the surface. “I’ve seen this sort of substance before. We’ve broken into caves made of it, once or twice. ”

“A combination of silicates and carbon compounds, Senator. Evidence suggests it makes the majority of Cybertrony’s depths. The metallic surface is, in geological timescales, a very recent addition to Cybertron. The finds we found seem to confirm that the mythical Golden Age occurred while the planet was still made of what the ancients called stone. Be careful.” he simply added, placing a gentle hand on Megatronus’ forearm when the latter tried to grab the mask.

Megatronus, seething from yet another breach of his personal space, had to admit that the mask was nevertheless an impressive specimen. The gray stone was carved into a Cybertronian face, snarling in fury, with empty eyes that glared at him like black holes. 

The mouth revealed a set of sharpened teeth and prominent fangs. It was elegantly framed by bits of metal that Megatronus has seen in and out of Iacon fashion. The socialites of Iacon called this unnecessary facial addition a “beard”, with two separate bits covering the mouth’s upper lip and the chin. The upper cover stretched past the sides and down. A pair of horns extended from the sides of the mask, granting a certain demonic finish to the object.

“Evidence suggests this mask is shaped after an ancient Cybertronian god, one of many that existed before the Church of Primus became as prominent as it is. It was most likely used in ritualistic executions of some sort, as-”

“Executions?” the senator’s feigned interest abruptly became much more real.

In response, Shockwave spilled a drop of the vintage energon in his glass down on the mask. Megatronus recoiled in surprise as the mask **snapped** loudly, rattling in its container.  
“The mask reacts to energon by some mechanism I cannot quite understand yet. The insides extend tendrils of some sort into the wearer’s cranial chamber and brain module. Surely a fatal, albeit painless, end.”

“But why would one build such a thing, professor Shockwave? Surely, there must be more efficient ways to execute someone.”

Shockwave’s unwavering, cyclopean gaze moved from Megatronus to the mask then back to Megatronus, the enigmatic being studying the large-built politician.  
“I am a robot of logic, Senator Megatronus. I am just as lost on this subject as you are.”

\---

“Forgive me for my lateness, Sentinel.”

It was painful to hear the static that came from Sentinel Prime’s vocal processors. The illness that ravaged the once-proud warrior turned him from a hulking warmachine into a frail, rusting frame of one. That being said, he appeared to be better than before. At least now he could move within his mechanized chair. A faint relief, if one at all.

Finally, the static cleared, and Sentinel looked at Orion through the holo-messenger.  
“It’s quite alright, Pax. I wait every cycle for these little -KHHHHHK- conversations. Waiting a little longer won’t kill me just yet.”

“Either way,” said the relieved librarian, “I’ll try not to keep you waiting next time. What’s changed in Iacon since me and Senator Megatronus left?”

Sentinel Prime adjusted himself in his seat, shrugging weakly. “The same old. Sitting in senate meetings and wasting away while everyone thinks my brain module’s what gone rusty. Ratchet takes energon samples from me every kilocycle or so sends someone to give me my medicine -KHHHHHK- and gets surprised when it doesn’t work. Although I’ve been getting better since you two left.”

Both of them were smiling under their faceplates. “Maybe the senator’s sunny disposition was the reason you fell ill?” Orion suggested.

Sentinel roared with laughter, immediately cut off by his vocal processors breaking into static. It was painful to watch, even if it ended as soon as it started.   
“I doubt it, Orion. You two were my only real visitors since I’ve fallen ill. You and Megatronus are the only reason my mind remained as -KHHHHK- as sharp as it is.”

Pax seemed surprised. “Are we really your only visitor, Sentinel? Surely, the head of the senate-”

“Bah. The Senate is waiting for me to croak so they could find someone who agrees with them more. Zeta, probably. Scrap-brained moron is already getting his internals adjusted for the Matrix- _my_ matrix.”

Even through the holo-messenger the silent, comforting hum of the ancient artifact of Primus was audible, the Matrix of Leadership supposedly keeping Sentinel attuned to the will of Primus.

Sentinel was not a very Primus-attuned person, to put it lightly.

Pax’s remark stopped before it begun as the door in Sentinel Prime’s chamber opened. A small bot walked in, carrying a tray with a sealed container of energon.  
“R-Ratchet s-sent me here with y-your medicine, sir!” 

The little bot’s voice was the epitome of meekness. He averted his oversized, purple optics from the rusting old coot that was supposed to be his infinitely superior counterpart.

“Th -KHHHHHHK- ank you, Swindle. You’re doing Cybertron a service.” The former warbot managed to mutter, taking the container. Carefully, slowly, with the movement movements of someone who no longer trusts their own fingers, Sentinel managed to bring a shaky hand to the cap of the container.  
“Forgive me, Pax. I have to focus on this. Damn thing feels harder and harder to do every time I take it.”

Orion nodded. “I’ll pray for your help, Sentinel. We’ll be back in a few kilocycles.”

The Prime laughed. “If Primus didn’t listen to me he wouldn't listen to anyone, Pax. You stay safe. Keep the Senator safe, alright? I don’t think my spark will take any more boredom.”

The clerk laughed right back at the warbot and hung the call up. Sentinel was quite possibly one foot in the melting pit, but he was definitely still as lively as ever.

\---

“It doesn’t feel right.”  
Swindle spoke to the Seeker over his comms. Starscream was a pain in his backplates no matter how he talked with him. At least this time he didn’t have to speak to him.

“Quit whining, Swindle. You’re getting good money and a promise of power once the old Prime croaks.” The high pitched voice was like a needle in his auditory canals.

“That’s why I’m complaining. I want more money for this.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Starscream, you’re convincin’ me to commit high treason here. If the senate knew, they’d put my spark in a-”

“If the senate knew, they’d tell you to do it for free. I don’t have any more money in my budget to raise your pay. Now shut up.”

Starscream was the epitome of obnoxious. He had no idea why this guy was so far up the chain, but he did know that the seeker’s plan wouldn’t have worked without him.

“Or what? You’ll try to bribe another one of Ratchet’s assistants? I’m sure Ambulon and First Aid are going to just _love_ the offer, I’m sure-”

“Alright, alright! Keep it down! I’ll ask the boss about raising your wage. Now do me a favor and keep your mouth shut.”

Swindle smiled. People always seemed to underestimate him.

\---

The mask bound for the Iacon Hall of Records was carefully stored within the cargo bay. Come sunrise, Megatronus and Orion would leave Kaon. For now, however, the senator’s aide sat down by his temporary desk and got to sorting through Megatronus’ information. 

Ah. A call for the Senator from Iacon. No identification, but Megatronus’ contact info hasn’t been made to the public. Better pass it on.  
Orion took pride in keeping the senator’s privacy. As his fingers pressed on the desk console’s buttons, the record keeper passed it on and kept on in his business. For a few microcycles, Orion kept on working. And working. And working.  
An energon break was shortly in order- Orion’s fuel was getting low anyway. The clerk got up and headed to the big energon container, pouring himself a glass.

Much better. Orion slid the faceplate back on and filled another glass for Megatronus. It would only be polite to offer him some as well.

Carefully holding the glass, Orion walked to Megatronus’ door…

“Unacceptable, Starscream.”

Ah. The senator was still talking to someone. Better not disturb him-  
“I don’t have the funds left for Swindle’s demands, and you know it.”

Orion paused. Was Megatronus being blackmailed? By… Swindle? Ratchet’s meek little assistant? He never would have suspected…

The other bot on the line- Starscream, was it?- finally spoke, smugness dripping from his cocky grin.  
“Senator, I’m not stupid, and neither is Swindle. With all due respect, what you’re asking us to do is very, very dangerous. I respect your… _ambition_ , but I fear Swindle is still having… second thoughts.”

Staring through the cracked open door, Pax was mesmerized. What was Megatronus doing?  
The senator, meanwhile, was simply staring at Starscream’s smug mug, an intense scowl on his own face.

“...Fine. How much more do you two need?”  
The grin widened. “Six thousand Shanix.”

A fist slammed down on the side of the console. The pale blue projection flickered as Megatronus struggled to keep his fury at bay. “...I will need time to gather that much. Tell Swindle his money is on his way.”

Starscream didn’t bother answering, the self-satisfied smile fading away.

Orion had no idea how long he was standing there, trying to understand, but he snapped back to his sense when Megatronus snapped his fingers at him.  
“How much of that did you see, Pax?”

His mind raced and his spark pulsed in terror as he had to come up with a lie…  
“I saw something about six thousand Shanix, sir. What’s going on?”

Megatronus’ shoulders loosened a bit, tension leaving his body. “Ah. That.”  
He noticed the glass in Orion’s hand. “...Another energon break, librarian? You seem to need more than most bots I’ve met.”

Orion simply handed Megatronus the glass. “I thought you’d appreciate a glass as well, senator.”  
“I do. Now come in. I believe I owe you an explanation.”

They sat together, and Megatronus explained, stopped every so often to drink from the glass.  
“Starscream is part of a… clandestine initiative I’m planning. An attempt to solve some of the problems plaguing Tarn, so to speak.”

“The organized crime problem, senator?” Orion suggested, giving Megatronus something to cling to.  
“Precisely, Pax. Starscream is the leader of Tarn’s Seekers’ Guild, and he volunteered to mobilize some of his stealthier members for my purposes. For a price, of course. Do not worry about it, but I urge you to keep silent. The Senate would have my head on a plate were they to find out.” 

Orion just nodded, thinking. Going behind the senate’s back for the sake of Tarn was in character for the dour senator. But Swindle wasn’t a seeker, he wasn’t even a plane. Swindle was a ground scout and one of many who had to find new employment after Cybertron’s recent lack of ground offensives.

The only reason he’d have business with him was if there was something he needed someone with Swindle’s kind of mobility with the people Ratchet had in his treatment list…  
"Are you alright, Librarian?”

Orion snapped back to reality and nodded. “I was considering a few options for helping your monetary problems. Surely, if I look at the budget-”  
Megatronus lifted a finger. “Don’t. I don’t want to make you an accomplice if this fails.”

“I insist, Megatronus. This is a large sum of money and I would appreciate helping you in a noble endeavor, risks be damned.”

Looking deeper into his files may shed some light into this mystery, as well.

Orion looked the miner-turned-politician straight in the optics, reaching to his faceplate and removing it to emphasize the seemingly honest intent.  
“My lips are sealed, senator.”

Megatronus just chuckled. “I see. If you believe you can help, I trust your judgement, Pax. Your help will not be ignored.”

Orion slowly slid his faceplate back on, nodding and standing up. "I'll go finish getting everything ready for our return to Iacon, Senator."

\---

The return was quite uneventful. The two bots worked their plans, although a hitch in the plan meant that Megatronus needed to silence the unexpected lead. Such an opportunity showed itself . The the Hall of Record called that evening, apologizing and delaying the courier due to unforseen reason.  
For however long, Megatronus had something he could silence Swindle with.

He had a plan, and had contingencies for said plan. Nobody would dare to think a respectable senator would kill a poor scout in cold spark, would they? Obviously, it’d be a robbery gone wrong. Swindle tried to steal the mask, and Megatronus killed him in self defense.

There was one problem with the plan.

Pax.

The Librarian was suspicious of him… And he was suspicious of Orion too. He knew there was more to the red-and-blue bot that meets the eye. Did he know about the poison? No. If that were the case, the senator would be in a prison cell by now. All this meant is that the tracks had to be covered, and swiftly.

There was an idea forming…

“Pax. I’m bringing the mask by myself to the hall of records. Do not wait for me-- I should not take long.”

The clerk didn’t even look from his terminal. He continued to type until the burly-bodied senator left.

Orion had to make a call or two, and Megatronus had a mouth to silence.


	2. As Forge Sets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Megatronus and Orion race through the night. While Megatronus seeks to silence a voice, Orion seeks to let the truth be known- but things take a change for the worse when Megatronus discovers the key to power beyond measure at his fingertips.

“Ratchet, I got a hunch.”

The crest on Ratchet’s head gave him a perpetual look of slight anger,. Orion Pax couldn’t shake the feeling that the head of Iacon’s Center For Technomedicinal Sciences was mad at him.  
“Orion, I appreciate the call, but I can’t drop everything because of a **hunch.** Is this something the senator put you up to?”

Orion’s investigation into the senator’s files bore fruit not long after Megatronus left. The data clerk managed to dig into Megatronus’ personal notes- and that’s where he hit the jackpot.   
Megatronus kept notes of conversations he had with key personnel. Most of these were mundane. “Zeta says more security budget” or “Proteus said Tarn doesn’t need stimulus”, and so on.

Digging in, however, he found more and more notes about Starscream.  
"Starscream wants more money” seemed to repeat itself. But “Starscream needs contact inside” and “Starscream won’t supply product without advance” were enough to make Orion feel like he was onto something.  
After Kilocycles’ worth of notes, around the time Megatronus became Senator of Tarn, the damning note showed up.  
“Talk to Starscream about Prime. Need more product.”

The product must have been for Sentinel Prime. The notes mentioned a man on the inside. Megatronus' chat with Starscream mentioned Swindle.  
All this concluded to one thing in Orion's mind.  
Megatronus was using Swindle to poison Sentinel Prime.

Ratchet was less than supportive of this theory. Pax avoided giving him the full details- mentioning names could backfire. No need for the Autobots arresting him for treason.  
"Orion, if Sentinel Prime was being poisoned, I'd know. The hospital has state of the art equipment that can detect all standard substances-"  
"What about non-standard substances?”  
“What?”  
“You can't detect everything, Ratchet. There has to be something-"  
"Let me stop you right there, Orion. I can test for anything that a cybertronian has a reasonable risk of getting poisoned by. If you want to do complete testing, you need to go to the Autobots. I don't have the time or the staff to send a sample to the forensics labs-"

Orion interjected over Ratchet's interjection. "I can deliver it. I'll do everything. Trust me, Ratchet."  
The doctor looked at the librarian through the comms. His brows furrowed together, he eventually sighed.

"Only because Sentinel trusts you, Orion. I don't know what you think you believe, but I'll get a sample ready if the old man agrees." He smiled tiredly. "He's a lot more agreeable after you visit."  
Orion nodded. He was out of the room before Ratchet even closed the call, and before long there was a truck barreling down the busy streets of Iacon.

\---

It was late enough at night that Megatronus could have called it early morning.  
Starscream gave the senator Swindle's schedule. The assistant routinely took the night shift, which meant he'd only get out right before dawn.

Megatronus didn't mind. It only made what he was about to do easier.  
The miner turned politician hid in the shadows of the alley. He gripped the mask by a horn, with the other hand gripping a simple knife. Any nano-cycle now…

There he was. Swindle was-  
-right there, walking out of the hospital's front doors, nursing from a mug of Stim-En to stay conscious long enough to get home.

He wouldn't have to worry about that for much longer.

Megatronus held steady until the blurry scout walked past…  
... and then hooked his arm around Swindle's neck and dragged him into the alleyway. The smaller bot was already thrashing in his grasp, trying in vain to free himself-

“I’m sorry, Swindle.” Megatronus said without a hint of apology in his voice. “But you should have stayed silent.”  
The knife found its way into the space between Swindle’s shoulder plates, spraying energon into the air as the mask slammed down on the little scout’s head. Droplets of cybertronian lifeblood dotted the gray stone as Swindle screamed in equal parts terror and agony, the tendrils giving his brain module a short, sharp, and agonizing lesson…  
And just like that, it was over. 

Megatronus dropped the dead body, looking away from Swindle. He’d have to message a few bots, of course. The police need to know the story. Starscream would have to sneak one last dose to kill Sentinel, but no bother. The Seeker could be stealthy enough for one switch of medicine-

The senator’s train of thought was interrupted when a sharp pain pierced his leg, a set of talons piercing the metal. When he shook his leg in terror, and looked down…

The snarling stone face gazed back at him, slowly sliding off to reveal Swindle’s. The small scout’s expression was identical to that of the device, mouth contorted in hatred that Megatronus had never seen before.  
But how? The stone mask bore holes in his brain module! Nothing could possibly survive that!  
  


And yet, Swindle did.  
“You-!” was all the little scout could say before Megatronus slammed his other leg on the gripping hand, trying to make this undead monstrosity flinch.

Even as metal broke away, revealing the sensitive endoskeleton, Swindle’s grip only tightened. His free hand pierced Megatronus’ abdomen, causing the larger, gray ex-miner to let out a pained cry. The strength Swindle was using was surreal, far beyond what a small scout-class cybertronian could conceivably produce- Megatronus was crying in agony as the metal casing was ripped, leaving a gaping hole through which the scout could easily reach.

The senator fell onto his backside as Swindle’s talons gripped at something within him, energon flowing freely…  
Swindle’s hand latched onto Megatronus’ spark casing, and the larger bot felt an unnatural chill as the claws pierced the gentle component. Immediately, Megatronus could only hold weakly onto Swindle’s wounded shoulder, gasping and struggling as his very life essence… somehow… was drained into the tinier transformer.  
With each passing microcycle, Swindle seemed to change. The wounds from the mask have long since stopped bleeding, and the metal seemed to regrow around the scout's arm, stronger than ever.

Whatever this… monster was, it overpowered Megatronus without an ounce of effort, and was about to consume him dry. For the first time in his life, the senator… gave up. His head hit the floor with a soft, metallic clang, and as the life flowed away from him, the humbled miner looked at the sunrise. Forge, the sun of Cybertron, slowly peeked from the city's skyline, and it was not until Megatronus' struggles stopped that he realized…

  
Swindle recoiled from the light. Momentarily, the grip around his spark loosened, and Megatronus' desire to live and survive flowed back to him, all at once. With the last of his power, he punched Swindle in the chest. The momentum collided with the scout, and without his hands holding Megatronus, the strength sent the smaller monstrosity flying into the sunlight of Solus Prime's workshop…

It was over so quickly he couldn't even see it. There wasn't even a scream- by the time Swindle hit the floor, there were only ashes.

Megatronus waited in that alley for what he thought were centuries. A thousand emotions, a hundred new thoughts, a dozen ideas, a new plan.  
He laughed, even as every movement brought unbelievable agony to his abdomen. He pressed the metal back into the hole, applying pressure and laughing as he stood up.  
Megatronus didn't need to think about being the new Prime anymore. He had a much grander plan now.

\---

Pax had a very simple plan. Taking the energon sample from a very tired-looking Ratchet, the clerk assumed his alt mode. As the blue-and-red truck barreled down the highway, Orion couldn’t help but ask himself.

_Why would Megatronus do this?_

It just didn’t make sense. Megatronus hinted he wasn’t satisfied with how things worked in the senate, and occasionally his temper would flare out. But from throwing a chair at a window to trying to poison the Prime? It’s like the distance between Cybertron and Luna 1. Surely, there would be better plans to-  
  
The sudden realization he was about to crash into someone knocked Orion out of his trance. The wheels grind to a stop and Pax transformed back into his regular self, the sample safely stashed in a storage compartment. He looked at the larger truck in front of him, studying the chassis for wounds-  
"In a hurry, Guzzler?"

From behind the truck. A whole gang of bots, revealing themselves as the bigger decoy assumed his form and towered above Orion.

Aw, scrap, he was getting mugged.

"I am, yes. I need to get a sample to the-"

One of them- white, spiky, leaning on a walking stick that looked like a piece of rebar- just snickered. "That's your business, Guzzler. Our business is gettin' your Shanix outta you. Now. We can do this the nice way, or we can shake you down a bit. You driving on the same lane with me, Guzzler?"

"I don't have time for this. A life is at stake-" Orion was interrupted again, the spiky 'bot- the ringleader, perhaps? Walking closer to him.  
"Yeah. Yours."

Pax barely had a moment to lift his arms in defense before the debris hit him. The paint on his arm scratched and his teeth grit at the sudden lance of pain as the rusty metal left a painful mark on it, but otherwise, he was fine-

**Whoomp**

The ringleader's foot connected with Orion's abdomen, causing him to stumble backwards.

His first worry was the energon canister.

His second worry was the robot rushing in to cave his head in.  
Things almost seemed to slow down.

Megatronus insisted on teaching his aide how to fight. "If you want to be my assistant, Pax, I expect you to be able to protect yourself. We won't be going to fancy Iacon galas with burly security guards every day."  
He shot him a glance. "It astounds me that you don't know how to do this already. You're built like a _blast door_ , Pax. How did you waste it by becoming a _librarian?_ ”

Orion could only shrug, lifting his fists up at the senator and standing in what he thought was a good pose. “I like records. That’s all there is to it, senator.”  
Megatronus stared at the red and blue ‘bot for a moment, shaking his head. He nudged Orion’s leg with his foot. “Look at you. A stiff breeze can knock you back. Right. Let me teach you about posture.”

Back in reality, Orion slammed his right foot down behind him and leaned on the left.  
_Not too close or too far, Pax. Heel a bit off the ground. Weight on the front of your forward foot._

He got into position.  
_Bend your knees more. Relax your shoulders- this isn’t a weight lifting contest._

He readied his fists…  
_Hands in place. Rear hand in front of your chin. Front hand close enough to cover it but enough so you can see._

… And his fist connected into the mugger’s face, throwing the crook back.  
Orion sighed. _Thank you, Megatronus.  
_The white, spiky thing almost flew back, falling down on his aft as Orion turned his attention to the others. The big one would reduce him to scrap but maybe if he knocked the other two out of his way he could drive his way out.

His fist slammed into the one with the knife, and he heard a sickening **clang** as the metal ruptured under the force of his punch.  
Orion’s energon was pumping and the muggers’ was flying in the air, the third of them falling to a swift kick…

And then the bigger truck’s fist hit his head and just like that, Orion Pax went down like a sack of ingots.  
_Don’t forget, Pax. Don’t get cocky. Don’t get lost in the fighting._

Pain. Like an angry buzzing in his head. He couldn’t have been offline for more than a split second, maybe he could-

  
The larger bot placed one massive, building-like foot on the librarian’s chest, starting to press down. His voice, like a barrel rumbling down, followed. “Last words, Guzzler?”

“Let him go, Hubcap.”

Orion could only sputter in surprise as the pressure lessened and he could suck in another breath, looking as the ringleader sat up, hand against the point where Orion hit.  
Hubcap _sounded_ as surprised as Orion was. “Deadlock, are you serious? He just-”  
“Look at him. He’s bigger than me and his fist barely did anything. You hit someone like this, you either don’t know how to fight, or you know how strong you are.”

Reluctantly, Hubcap lifted his foot, and Orion sat up, wincing in pain. The ringleader- Deadlock- offered him his hand, and hesitantly, the librarian took it and stood up.  
“I don’t get you, Guzzler. We’ve been trying to kill you and instead of killing me back, you barely leave a mark. Someone _taught_ you to fight.” the white bot leaned on his walking stick. “But ya taught yourself to hold back. Whatcha even out here for? It’s dead of night.”

Finally, talking. Orion couldn’t let himself lower his guard, but maybe things were about to turn around. “I need to deliver an energon sample to Prowl at Autobot HQ. It’s a forensics thing.”

Deadlock let out an appreciative whistle- although something about his tone afterwards made Pax uneasy. “Guzzler’s headin’ to Autobot HQ, boys! You go home for the night, alright? I’ll escort our buddy here.”  
The Librarian was unaccustomed to the escort- doubly so as said escort just tried to break him down for scrap. He made no effort to hide it.

“Why are you helping me?” he asked as the two drove down the road. Cybertron was just waking up- Forge peeked from the horizon, and people were in the streets now. Pax registered the scent of Stim-En in the air, and realized he was low on Energon.  
If only he had time. He could not, would not stop until this was over.

“Simple,” the smaller car answered. “You’re a good guy and you know the head of Autobot SecOps enough to go borrow his forensics lab for a cycle so you could analyze an energon sample. Figures being on your good side is gonna be a good idea.”Ironclad logic, if only for the fact Pax was hurrying. Primus only knows the state Sentinel might be in now...

Autobot HQ was a cluster of ten buildings in the central district of Iacon that stood out from the other structures around it by its radically different architecture. Some likened them to fingers or even limbs, others going as far as claiming Auotobot HQ was a dormant Titan of some sort.  
Orion thought this talk was idiotic, especially as he shifted out of Altmode and strode into one of the buildings.

Security Chief Prowl was already standing by the reception desk, his crest giving him a perpetually gruff appearance.  
“Pax. I got the call from Ratchet. You got the sample?”

Orion nodded and sighed in relief as the still-intact container left his storage compartment. One day he’ll have to splurge a bit on one of those subspace cargo trailers-  
\- but that day probably won’t come soon. Megatronus is hardly going to pay his salary from prison.

Deadlock watched the container switching hands. “So what’s so important about this sample, anyway? They don’t give SecOp treatment to anyone- what, someone poisonin’ the Prime?”

Orion and Prowl looked at each other, saying nothing as they went onward to the Forensics lab.

Glyph, the forensics expert on shift, took enough time to analyze the sample that librarian and the SecOp officer could have a little chat.  
Or, rather, Orion had a chance to present his case. Prowl didn’t seem particularly shocked when the librarian blamed Megatronus. Instead, he went immediately into his investigative mode.   
“And you got backups of these notes?”  
Orion nodded. “On my computer back home. There’s no correspondence with this Starscream, but he does refer to talking to him.”  
Prowl tapped his chin, lost in thought. “...Assuming we find a trace of anything, there might be a case, or at least grounds for a search. But it’s all circumstantial, Orion. It’s going to take a long while to do anything. If Glyph manages to find something, I’ll let you know, but right now I think you and your friend need to go recharge.”

Pax didn’t think it would be as easy as he hoped. But now he could get to thinking about how to spend the rest of his life-

“Uh, Guzzler.”  
Orion and Prowl turned their heads.

Deadlock was there, his arm gripped with metal-bending strength by another bot. The triangular design was a clear ringer for an aeroplane. The face, however, was familiar to Pax- a conversation spied on, a smug tone, a demand for more money.

Starscream smirked, and let go of the smaller bot. A military airbot by design, he dwarfed everyone else in the room.  
“Gentlebots. I believe you require my testimony.”

\---

It took Megatronus all day to get himself patched up right, and he looked about as bad as he felt, metal patches covering the gaping hole in his side. Even the act of alt-moding was excruciating enough that he had to walk home.  
But it didn’t matter. As soon as he got home, he wouldn’t need to worry about pains or the Prime or even the fact Pax was most likely onto him. Soon, he would have power beyond measure.  
Long after Forge set, the miner-turned politician opened the door. He was hoping he could at least get some much-needed energon inside him before-

“Good evening, Senator.”  
Security Chief Prowl, standing at full attention. Starscream, leaning against the wall. An assortment of autobot SecOps, surrounding something, their armaments aimed against him.  
And Orion, standing closer to him than the rest, with his arms folded.

“I think you know what this is about.” the librarian said, his voice ever so shaky. “I- you-”  
Prowl put a hand on Orion’s shoulder. “Senator Megatronus of Tarn, you are under arrest for purchase of illegal substances, attempted murder, and high treason against The Cybertronian Senate and the authority of Sentinel Prime.”

As the autotbots stepped aside, clearing the way, Megatronus’ smile widened, ever so slightly. Sentinel Prime, carried by an orderly, moved forward until he was beside Orion. Immediately, Prowl followed, the crested law enforcement autobot holding a pair of stasis cuffs.  
The old Prime spoke, balancing himself on his elbow to take a look at the soon-to-be-ex senator. “The Seeker told us everything, Megatronus.” A weak chuckle. “I knew you were an ambitious sort. I knew you’d be the one I’d recommend, once this old hunk of garbage broke down. It... hurts me to know you did this.” He winced, and took a deep breath. “You and Orion were my closest friends, Megatronus. To think that you, of all bots…” He couldn’t finish the sentence, instead shaking his head.

The senator towered over everyone else in the room. He stared at them all, that smile on his face and his gaze scanning them, as if he was strategizing the proper way to kill them all.  
And then he simply knelt, snickering as he held his arms up.  
“You caught me. I will go. On the condition that my assistant is the one who cuffs me.”

Prowl’s brows furrowed. “You’re not in a condition to make a demand, Megatronus.”  
“I’ll do it.” Orion held his hand out to Prowl. “I’ve served under him for cycles now. It’s the least I could do for the bot he once was.”  
The autobot stared at him for a moment, before handing the cuffs. “I’m the bigger moron here for even indulging this. Be quick.”

Orion stared into Megatronus’ eyes as he affixed one cuff to the ex-miner’s wrist, glancing at the poorly patched hole at his side. “I can’t say how sorry I am it came to this, Megatronus. You’ve been nothing but kind to me, but I cannot allow you to get away with this.”  
The senator smirked. “You’ve done well, you know. Most people wouldn’t have dared to uncover what you did. And even then, the only reason I’ve been caught is because of my own limits.”  
Orion paused, squinting at the bot who was once his mentor. “What do you mean, Megatronus?”  
"We, as a _species_ , are limited, Pax. Our hardware can only be pushed so far. Our sparks can only be pushed so far. Our very structure is a weakness that one must transcend if they wish to endure.”

Prowl reached for his gun. Pax took a step back. “What in Primus are you talking abou-”

“I CONDEMN MY SPARK, PAX!”  
The knife, still stained with Swindle’s innermost energon, came out of nowhere, thrusting itself toward Orion. The other hand held onto the mask, that damnable stone mask-  
"I TRANSCEND MY HARDWARE! I AM BEYOND PRIMUS!”  
  
The pain never came-  
And when Orion realized why, he froze in terror.

Sentinel pushed himself out of the chair to stop the knife in its tracks- with his own body. His energon, venerable, nearly curdled- splattered onto Megatronus, the madbot slamming the mask down at his own head and laughing as Prowl and his autobots fired at him. By the time the shots subsided, Megatronus of Tarn was a twitching scrap pile, while Orion gently cradled the dying Prime in his hands.

“Why? Why would you, Sentinel?” Optic lubricant was streaming down Pax’s face, the blue-and-red librarian looked at the knife lodged in the wound, and quickly scooped Sentinel up, handing him to the orderly.  
The aged warbot could only look, softly, at Orion, energon splattering out of the holes in his faceplate as his voice broke into static.

“-KHHH-dying protecting the innocent, Pax. My one -KHHHH- wish.”  
By the time the orderly was out, Sentinel’s gone limp in his grasp.  
Orion was trying to stop the tears, wiping the excess lubricant away. Prowl stomped to him, no doubt about to rightfully blame him for the death of a Prime, and Orion was willing to let him.  
  
Until the scream of terror broke him from his grief-fuelled trance.  
Megatronus’ corpse was gone, a trail of energon leading to Prowl. Prowl was the source of the scream, twitching in terror and gripping at the hand that erupted from his chest, gripping his spark casing.  
And holding his spark was Megatronus, laughing with maniacal glee. His body melded the crude patch that covered his side into itself, leaving featureless metal.

“LOOK AT ME, ORION PAX!” he shouted, as the drained husk that was Prowl fell to the ground. “YOU WON’T BELIEVE THE THINGS I CAN DO NOW!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This... Took way too long. I'm sorry for that, life and the pandemic kinda derailed me. I promise I'll try to keep chapter 3 from taking this long to get out!


End file.
